Sleep Apnea Exercises
Different sounds and tunes to focus movement in the soft palate, palatopharyngeal arch, tongue and nasopharynx-
These exercises cannot work for everyone. The action of the exercises is to tone lax muscles in the upper throat. They can only help when lax muscles are a significant factor.
Yawning also uses similar muscles. Try yawning repeatedly for a few minutes to really stretch the muscles. You can do this one anywhere as it’s a silent exercise.
Working out your throat muscles is the same as working out any other muscle in your body. You need to do it regularly in order to see any results.
It won’t happen overnight but gradually over several months you will start to notice that you don’t snore as much as you once did.
Yoga is appropriate for all ages and can greatly reduce stress and improve the quality of sleep. There are breathing and relaxation techniques that will relieve your sleep apnea.
The special type of yoga that promotes sleep is called Yoga Nidra, which in Sanskrit means Sleep. Yoga uses breathing and visualization techniques to help you relax, and it is recommended you do the exercises every night before sleep.
Jaw Exercise for Sleep Apnea:
Close your mouth and act like you are chewing gum. Chew like this for a minute or so at a time. To do the exercise right make sure your molars on both sides move apart a little, and then touch lightly again. Also notice that your lips are supposed to be closed the whole time.
This exercise is pretty easy on your jaw because you are not actually chewing anything, but you might still feel a little bit sore in the beginning. Just take it easy-maybe chew for only a few seconds in the beginning and then increase the time you exercise.
You can make an "mmm" sound as you chew. This will open the throat better. Making an "mmm" sound is not necessary, it will just give the exercise extra boost
Oropharyngeal Exercises:
If the problem in sleep apnea is the tissues relaxing and collapsing onto each other, you probably wonder if there is any oropharyngeal exercises to strengthen and tone these muscles.
A Brazilian study shows that doing certain tongue and facial exercises for 30 minutes daily may ease the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Those exercises for sleep apnea included:
This study included thirty-one adults with moderate obstructive sleep apnea. The results of the study was interesting: after three months of oropharyngeal exercises, the patients had reduced their obstructive sleep apnea severity by thirty-nine percent. They also reported that they were snoring less, sleeping better, and less sleepiness during daytime.
Larger studies are needed to confirm the results and to learn which oropharyngeal exercises were most important, but the basic idea is to strengthen the muscles around the airway so it's less likely to collapse during sleep.
Singing Exercises for Sleep Apnea:
Different sounds and tunes to focus movement in the soft palate, palatopharyngeal arch, tongue and nasopharynx-
These exercises cannot work for everyone. The action of the exercises is to tone lax muscles in the upper throat. They can only help when lax muscles are a significant factor.
Yawning also uses similar muscles. Try yawning repeatedly for a few minutes to really stretch the muscles. You can do this one anywhere as it’s a silent exercise.
Working out your throat muscles is the same as working out any other muscle in your body. You need to do it regularly in order to see any results.
It won’t happen overnight but gradually over several months you will start to notice that you don’t snore as much as you once did.
Yoga Exercises for Sleep Apnea:
Yoga is appropriate for all ages and can greatly reduce stress and improve the quality of sleep. There are breathing and relaxation techniques that will relieve your sleep apnea.
The special type of yoga that promotes sleep is called Yoga Nidra, which in Sanskrit means Sleep. Yoga uses breathing and visualization techniques to help you relax, and it is recommended you do the exercises every night before sleep.
Jaw Exercise for Sleep Apnea:
Close your mouth and act like you are chewing gum. Chew like this for a minute or so at a time. To do the exercise right make sure your molars on both sides move apart a little, and then touch lightly again. Also notice that your lips are supposed to be closed the whole time.
This exercise is pretty easy on your jaw because you are not actually chewing anything, but you might still feel a little bit sore in the beginning. Just take it easy-maybe chew for only a few seconds in the beginning and then increase the time you exercise.
You can make an "mmm" sound as you chew. This will open the throat better. Making an "mmm" sound is not necessary, it will just give the exercise extra boost
Oropharyngeal Exercises:
If the problem in sleep apnea is the tissues relaxing and collapsing onto each other, you probably wonder if there is any oropharyngeal exercises to strengthen and tone these muscles.
A Brazilian study shows that doing certain tongue and facial exercises for 30 minutes daily may ease the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Those exercises for sleep apnea included:
- Brushing the tongue with a toothbrush
- Putting the tip of the tongue on the soft palate and sliding the tongue backward
- Pronouncing vowels quickly or continuously
- Keeping the tongue in a certain position when eating
- And other methods
This study included thirty-one adults with moderate obstructive sleep apnea. The results of the study was interesting: after three months of oropharyngeal exercises, the patients had reduced their obstructive sleep apnea severity by thirty-nine percent. They also reported that they were snoring less, sleeping better, and less sleepiness during daytime.
Larger studies are needed to confirm the results and to learn which oropharyngeal exercises were most important, but the basic idea is to strengthen the muscles around the airway so it's less likely to collapse during sleep.